Jazz rally past Pistons after trailing by 15

The Pistons' Greg Monroe dunks during the first quarter of Saturday's game against Utah.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Al Jefferson scored 10 of his 20 points in the third quarter, and the Utah Jazz rallied to beat the Detroit Pistons 90-87 on Saturday night.

Detroit's Brandon Knight missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds that would have tied the game after the Pistons trailed by 13 points with 3:26 left.

Jefferson helped the Jazz outscore Detroit 25-11 in the third, powering them to their first lead after trailing by as many as 15 points.

Utah also put together a 17-3 run after Austin Daye's 3-pointer with 8:38 left gave the Pistons the lead for the last time.

There was one comeback left, and it came up just short.

Detroit outscored the Jazz 12-1 and had a shot to send the game into overtime, but Knight was very short on a contested shot just before the buzzer. Knight and Pistons coaches lobbied for a foul, but didn't get what they wanted.

The Jazz (20-19) avoided falling under .500 and into a last-place tie with Minnesota in the Northwest Division.

Detroit had won seven of their last nine games.

Knight had 16 points and Greg Monroe scored 12 for the Pistons.

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